Both these are hardy fruits and so do not need a greenhouse, however having one gives much earlier and much more reliable crops. Just the protection from frosts, rain and birds is immensely valuable, the earliness is a huge bonus. Apricots and cherries need similar treatment to peaches though preferring cooler drier conditions, a freer […]
Tomatoes are the greenhouse crop most often grown. True in sheltered gardens a few varieties crop outside most summers. But under cover you have more sorts for more of the year with much tastier varieties. And what variety, tomatoes come in almost every colour other than blue, even striped ones. Any seed catalogue will bewilder […]
You need only an unheated greenhouse to enjoy these delicious health giving fruits weeks even months earlier than the outdoor crops. This is when they are most appreciated, and most expensive in the shops. Just bringing these under cover is sufficient incentive for them to leap into growth and then flower and fruit with little […]
Claytonia / Montia perfoliata, Cuban Spinach, Miner’s Lettuce Almost every greenhouse should have some of this low growing ground covering salad plant closely related to Purslane. Not as an ornamental feature necessarily but for it’s fantastic utility. You see this little grown annual, Claytonia perfoliata, Cuban spinach or Miner’s Lettuce hails from the central Americas […]
No greenhouse fruit is sweeter or more luscious than a peach or nectarine plucked sun warmed and fully ripe. Indeed this should be a balloon full of nectar just waiting to burst on you. Now if you live in a warm sunny area you may just be able to win a crop of peaches outdoors […]
A greenhouse is not strictly necessary for growing grapes as a few varieties can do quite well outdoors. But by far the tastiest, more luscious and gorgeous varieties do have to be grown under cover and indeed there are few more rewarding crops. Now a large greenhouse used to be needed as grapevines are very […]
Few crops so require a greenhouse as melons. True seedsmen do sell varieties that may in a very good summer crop outdoors, but most years the results are rather disappointing. Come under cover though and truly amazing melons can be had of a size, sweetness and aroma far exceeding any sold commercially. The main reason […]
Many of our most colourful and useful greenhouse and conservatory plants are Begonias. Though wandering through a botanic collection most of us might not realise just how many different plants were in fact all Begonias. For this is an immense tribe with many origins, sizes, shapes and habits, and an even more confusing collection of […]
Some greenhouse plants are appreciated more for their luxuriant foliage than for their flowers or food appeal. Taro, Colocasia antiquorum, is a good example and ideal for gracing a frost free conservatory or bay window. Luxuriant dark green, rhubarb sized, broad arrow shaped, leaves similar to those of an Arum lily, held on stems a […]
Some of the greenhouses’ most delightful but seldom known gems are the Zaluzianskya, Night Phloxes. These are rather misfortunately named so they now appear almost last in any seed or plant list. By then one’s attention may have wandered, or more likely the budget has been exceeded by many times, so good plants may be […]
You certainly need a heated greenhouse to crop this beauty, but not to grow it. The papaw plant is easy to grow, even on a sunny windowsill, well at first. You see this is one of the fastest growing of all, from seed to a veritable small tree the first year. It’s much better as […]
A bright sunny greenhouse or conservatory position, preferably with a warm wall, is best for this gorgeous twining evergreen climber, for Araujia sericofera, the Cruel Plant, sulks in shade. I have seen it well grown in a generous hanging basket, which helped control it’s vigour as well as keeping it high up in the brightest […]
